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Rape offences have risen by more than 40% in Surrey in a year with overall recorded crime figures reaching their highest level since 2006/07.

Rape crime jumped from 611 recorded offences in 2016/17 up to 857 in the 2017/18 financial year.

In the latest integrity report for Surrey Police, the immediate reporting of sexual crimes was listed as an area for improvement.

The report found that only 159 of 200 audited rape reports were accurately recorded.

It added that the increase in serious sexual offences can “largely be attributed to corrections made in our crime recording which highlighted some instances where multiple crimes should have been separated”.

Surrey crime by year

Surrey Police

The total number of recorded crimes also increased for the fifth consecutive year – up 3.4% from 2016/17 to 73,587, an additional 2,443 offences. That total is the highest in Surrey since 2006/07.

Nev Kemp, assistant chief constable at Surrey Police, said: “It’s encouraging to see that the rise in recorded crime is beginning to stabilise and we continue to have one of the lowest crime rates relative to our population.

“It’s important to remember that in some instances it’s good news to see a rise in reporting, for example hate crime and domestic abuse, which we know have been under-reported in the past.

Surrey crime by type 2017/18

Surrey Police

"We’ve worked hard to increase the public’s trust and confidence in us and are now seeing greater willingness to report as a result."

Violent crimes soared to 29,407, receiving the largest proportion of the overall increase in recorded crime across the county. The increase of 1,926 incidents of violent crime from 2016/17 to 2017/18 accounted for 78% of the additional offences.

Of the total number of violent offences, 7,351 were domestic incidents. The main increases of violent crime related to "assault without injury", "malicious communications" and "public fear, alarm or distress".

More crime news

Robbery was another area of concern, increasing by nearly 32%. Of the 432 robberies recorded by police, 376 related to the “robbery of personal property” - nearly a third of these involved a blade or other sharp implement.

There was also an increase in possession of a weapon offences – up 16% to 83 – with a “significant proportion” of the offenders below the age of 20.

The force has warned young people that carrying a knife does not protect them and will only make them more vulnerable.